The first permanent USAF host unit at Takhli was the
6011th Air Base Squadron, being activated in July
1962, hosting the deployed F-100Ds from the 27th TFW. The 6011th
ABS was under the command of the 35th Tactical Group at Don Muang Royal Thai
Air Force Base in Bangkok. During February 1963, the rotational
squadrons of F-100's from Cannon was reduced to six aircraft, with
the deployments from Cannon ending in March 1964 and the squadrons
deploying instead to Da Nang Air Base in South Vietnam.

On 11 May 1962, the 510th Tactical Fighter
Squadron of the 405th Fighter Wing
from Clark Air
Base, Philippines was deployed to Takhli in
response to an increasing threat along the Laotian border. This deployment was named
FIELD GLASS. The first recorded combat loss was an
F-100D (56-3085), shot down on August 18, 1964 over Laos. The Clark
F-100s remained at Takhli until 20 August 1965 on a rotating
basis.

331st
Air Base Squadron

North American F-100D-85-NH Super Sabre Serial 56-3460 of the 27th
TFW. On 9 June 1964 this aircraft was lost 420 miles West of Shannon, Ireland

F-105D Serial 61-0169 of the 563d TFS - 1965

F-105 Thunderchief

In an organizational change, the 331st Air Base
Squadron replaced the 6011th ABS at Takhli in July 1963 as
the host unit at Takhli. The 331st ABS came under the command and
control of 13th Air Force at Clark AB, Philippines. About a
year later, the last rotating F-100 squadron departed Takhli, to be
replaced by the Republic F-105D "Thunderchief". The F-105D
was destined to become a major participant in the war in Vietnam.
The F-105D 36th Tactical Fighter
Squadron was deployed to Takhli from Itazuke AB,
Japan, May 1964-June 1964 (8th TFW), 6 March–4 May 1965 and 26
August–28 October 1965 (6441st TWF).

The 80th Fighter Squadron (F-105D/F) deployed
to Takhli between 27 June–26 August 1965 from the 6441st TFW,
Yokota AB, Japan.

In order to make TAC's fleet of fighter-bombers capable of using
the boom-equipped KC-97 or KC-135 tankers, last few F-105Ds off the
production line (production block -31) were given the capability of
refuelling from either a flying boom or a hose-drogue type of
tanker. This was done by fitting a flush-mounted retractable
door-type receptacle in front of the windshield which could accept
a flying-boom type of midair-refuelling probe. Some earlier F-105Ds
were retrofitted with these receptacles. The 421st stayed at Takhli
until 15 January 1965 when it was deactivated. The aerial refueling
mission was taken over by a detachment of the 4252d
Strategic Wing from Misawa Air Base with KC-135s replacing the
KB-50s.

F-104 Starfighters

Fifteen F-104C Starfighters arrived in April
1965, with the 476th Tactical Fighter Squadron
from the 479th Tactical Fighter Wing at George
AFB. At Takhli they carried out 2,927 missions of
machine-gunning, bombing and escorting strike aircraft, sometimes
in North Vietnamese air space, before returning to the United
States on 20 November.

6441st Tactical Fighter
Wing

In May 1965 the 6441st TFW (Provisional) became
the host unit at Takhli and the base became a forward deployment
location for rotational squadrons, largely from the 23d Tactical Fighter
Wing based at McConnell AFBKansas. Two squadrons (562d, 563d) from the 23d TFW
were deployed to Takhli in April 1965, returning to Kansas on 15
August.

An additional F-105 squadron from McConnell, the 357th
TFS, was deployed from the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing on 12
June 1965.

On 8 July 1965 the 6235th Tactical Fighter Wing
was activated to replace the 6441st TFW.

355th Tactical Fighter
Wing

On 8 November 1965 the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing
made a permanent change of station (PCS) from McConnell AFB to
Takhli without personnel or equipment as the host unit at the base.
The provisional 6235th TFW was de-activated and the equipment and
personnel at Takhli were absorbed into the new wing structure.
Previously, all of the 355th's squadrons at McConnell had been
deployed to various bases in Southeast Asia, two of which were
reassigned to Takhli (357th, 354th TFS) and brought back under its
control. Squadrons of the 355th were:

F-105
Tactical Operations

The 355th TFW participated in major strikes against North Vietnamese
logistical areas. Among the targets hit by the 355th were the Yen Bay
Arsenal and storage complex, Viet Tri Railroad and highway bridge, Hanoi petroleum storage complex,
Dap Cau railroad and highway bridge, Phuc Yen petroleum storage
and Thai Nguyen railroad station and yard.

In May 1967, the 355th TFW received its first Presidential Unit Citation for action from
1 January 1966 to 10 October 1966. During this time, the wing flew
11,892 sorties, downed 2 MiGs, and damaged 8 more.

On 10 March 1967, Capt. Max C. Brestel, an F-105
pilot became the first twin MiG-killer of the war when he shot down
two MiG-17's.

Also on 10 March, Capt Merlyn H.
Dethlefsen earned the Medal of Honor. The target was the steel
works at Thai Nguyen 50 miles north of Hanoi. After the flight leader was shot down and
his wingman forced to leave the area due to battle damage, Capt
Dethlefsen took command of the flight and pressed the attack on the
defensive positions around the target. While evading several MiGs
and being hit by AAA, Capt Dethlefsen took out 2 SAM sites to clear
the way for the main strike force.

On 11 August 1967, the 355th conducted a raid on the Hanoi
railroad and highway bridge. Thirty-six strike aircraft led by the
355th dropped 94 tons of bombs and destroyed one rail span and two
highway spans on the northeast side of the bridge. The
superstructure was damaged and the highway portion on the north
side of the bridge, where it crossed the island in the river, was
cut. This stopped the movement of an average of 26 trains per day
with an estimated capacity of 5,950 short tons. Two aircraft were
damaged, but no pilots were lost. The heart of the North Vietnamese
transportation system had been dealt a severe blow.

F-105Ds from the 334th TFS at Takhli, 1966

On 8 October 1967, a flight of F-105's from the 355th TFW
attacked and destroyed, on the ground, 2 Mil Mi-6 and 4 Mil Mi-4 Soviet built helicopters. On 24
October, The 355th lead a strike against the Phuc Yen airfield 18
miles north of Hanoi and the largest in North Vietnam. The
airfield, which had been untouched prior to the raid, was left
unserviceable. On 14 December, under heavy anti aircraft fire, the
Wing attacked the Paul Doumer bridge, a vital link between Hanoi
and Red China. For the third time, the bridge comes down.

In November, 1967, Gerald Gustafson received the Air Force Cross
after he refused to leave his comrade until other escort aircraft
could be vectored in to give the wounded pilot assistance in
reaching his home base safely.

In January 1970, the 355th TFW received its 2nd Presidential Unit Citation for action from
11 August-12 August 1967 and 24 October-28 October 1967.

In July, the 355th TFW received its record 3rd Presidential Unit Citation for action from
12 April 1968 through 30 April 1969. During this time frame, the
wing dropped 32,000 tons of ordinance on 2,100 targets while flying
17,000 combat sorties.

F-105G Wild
Weasels

Republic F-105F-1-RE Thunderchief Serial 63-8319 from the 44th TFS
Later, this aircraft was reconfigured to the F-105G "Wild Weasel"
configuration.

The Wild Weasel concept was originally proposed in 1965 as a
method of countering the increasing North Vietnamese SAM threat,
using volunteer crews. The mission of the Wild Weasels was to
eliminate Communist Surface to Air Missile sites in North
Vietnam.

On a Wild Weasel mission, an F-100 or F-4 would identify the SAM
site and be targeted by the SAM, and then the F-105D's would fly
the actual attack strike against the SAM Site. The F-105G was the
designation given to Wild Weasel F-105Fs which were fitted with
greatly improved avionics. The designation EF-105F was temporarily
applied to these aircraft, but their designation was eventually
changed to F-105G.

The first F-105Gs went to the 357th TFS at Tahkli RTAFB during
the second half of 1967.

The 12th Tactical Fighter squadron of the 18th Tactical Fighter
Wing, which had been detached to Korat RTAFB from Okinawa, was also
equipped with the F-105G and was temporarily reassigned to Takhli
in June 1967. A third Wild Weasel squadron, the 44th TFS was
reassigned to the 355th from Korat when the decision was made in
October 1969 to make the 388th TFW at Korat an all F-4 wing.

The Detachment from the 12th TFS returned to its main unit at
Korat and the 44th TFS was returned to Korat in September 1970 from
the 355th TFW to the 388th TFW when the decision was made to
consolidate the units of the Wild Weasel mission.

Air
Refueling Mission

F-105s from the 354th and 333d TFS refueling with a KC-135 from
Takhli Air Base

In January 1967, the SAC 4258th Strategic Wing
assumed full responsibility for the Takhli KC-135 tankers formerly
belonging to the 4252d SW at Kadena AB, Okinawa. At years end, the
tanker force numbered 5 at Takhli. In February 1968, the KC-135s
were transferred to Ching Chuan Kang Air BaseTaiwan.

Electronic Warfare
Mission

F-105s with a EB-66 from the 355th TFW on a bomb run over enemy
territory

As part of the Electronic Countermeasure (ECM) weaponry that the
USAF employed against North Vietnamese air defenses, variants
of the Douglas
B-66 were adapted to serve in the electronic countermeasures
role as radar jamming aircraft. They were redesignated EB-66B.

All of the bombing equipment was removed and replaced by
electronic jamming equipment. The tail turret was removed, and
automatic jamming equipment was fitted in its place. Numerous
antennae protruded from the aircraft, and chaff dispensing pods
were carried. They were used during the Vietnam War as electronic
warfare aircraft, joining strike aircraft during their missions
over North Vietnam to jam enemy radar installations. They were not
"Wild Weasel" aircraft, since they did not have provisions to
attack the radar installations directly.

During January 1966 the 42d Electronic Countermeasures Squadron
(ECS) squadron arrived from Chambley-Bussieres Air Base, France flying RB-66C and WB-66s
variants of the B-66 on photo reconnaissance and electronic warfare
missions.

The B-66s were used to locate and identify North Vietnamese
radar sites that directed missiles and AAA fire, so that strike
aircraft could avoid them. The RB-66C had no offensive capability,
so it could not attack the radar sites directly.

F-111A
Combat Lancer

The General
Dynamics F-111 was one of the most controversial aircraft that
ever flew. Perhaps no other aircraft before or since has been so
bitterly criticized in the media. The first production F-111A
deliveries to the Air Force took place on 18 July 1967 to the 428th, 492nd and 430th Tactical
Fighter Squadrons of the 474th Tactical Fighter Wing based at Cannon
AFB, New Mexico.
In early 1968, the squadron was reassigned to Nellis AFB, Nevada.

428th TFS F-111As in 1968

Shortly thereafter, the Air Force decided to rush a small
detachment of F-111As to Southeast Asia under a program known as
Combat Lancer. Six 428th TFS F-111As were
allocated to the Combat Lancer program, and departed Nellis AFB for
Takhli on 15 March 1968. By the end of that month, 55 night
missions had been flown against targets in North Vietnam, but two aircraft had been
lost. 66-0022 had been lost on March 28, and 66-0017 on March 30.
Replacement aircraft had left Nellis, but the loss of a third
F-111A (66-0024) on April 22 halted F-111A combat operations.
However, the aircraft remained poised for combat, but they saw
little action before their return to the United States in
November.

It turned out that the three F-111A losses were not due to enemy
action but were caused by wing and tail structural defects. One of
the Combat Lancer crashes had been traced to a malfunction of the
aircraft's tail servo actuator. The USAF later discovered (as a
later returning prisoner of war would confirm) that a tailplane
problem could cause a sudden and uncontrollable pitch-up and roll.
This failure in the flying controls system caused the aircraft to
break up in flight. The other two crashes in Vietnam were traced to
poor mounting of the M61A1 cannon and to pilot error.

First withdrawal of US
units

A phasing down of Takhli began in 1969-1970 as part of the
general American withdrawal from Southeast Asia:

The 41st TEWS was deactivated October 31, 1969.

The 42d TEWS (B-66) squadron were transferred to Korat in
August 1970.

Det 1, 12 TFS was deactivated and the aircraft rejoined the
rest of the squadron at Korat with their F-105G Wild Weasel aircraft in
September.

On 6 October the Wing's last F-105 combat mission of the war,
an airstrike in Laos, was flown by
"DINO" flight, led by Col. Waymond C. Nutt.

The 355 TFW ceased combat operations at Takhli on 7 October,
and on the 12th, the wing retired its colors with a 12-aircraft
flyover of F-105s.

During this deployment the 49th flew more than 21,000 combat
hours over just about every battle zone from An Loc to vital
installations in the Hanoi vicinity. During five months of combat,
the wing did not lose any aircraft or personnel—a testament to the
outstanding training and proficiency of all members of the 49th.
The unit received an Air
Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device for its
participation.

From Takhli 366th TFW aircrews flew air superiority missions
over Vietnam. In addition
several AC-130
gunships were deployed to Takhli from the 8th TFW at Ubon.
These AC-130s were assigned to Det 1., 16th Special
Operations Squadron.

The Holloman-based TDY squadrons returned to New Mexico on 27
October 1972.

The 4th and 421st TFSs were transferred to the 432d TRW at Udon RTAFB on 31
October 1972.

474th Tactical Fighter
Wing

General Dynamics F-111A Serial 67-081 of the 429th TFS/347th TFW
taken at Nellis AFB Nevada in 1975 still showing its 347th TFW tail
code (HG). With its return from its three years deployment to
Thailand the aircraft was reassigned to the 474th TFW, staying at
Nellis until 1977, when all the F-111s were transferred to the
366th TFW at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho. It remained in service with
the 366th TFW until being retired to AMARC on 21 June 1991.

All F-111As of the 474th carried the tail code NA. From Takhli,
the 474th participated in Operation Linebacker II when
the United States resumed the large scale bombing of North Vietnam.

In early 1973, With the suspension of bombing in North Vietnam
and the resumption of peace negotiations, inflight refueling
requirements decreased markedly. As a result, in late January 1973
many of the augmented tankers of the 11th Air Refueling
Squadron, which has been rotating aircraft and aircrews
from Altus AFB, returned to Oklahoma.

The 430th TFS returned to the 474th TFW Nellis on 22 March 1973,
while the 428th and 429th were assigned to the newly transferred
347th Tactical Fighter Wing from Mountain Home Air Force
BaseIdaho on 30 July
1973.

347th Tactical Fighter
Wing

1974 photo of F-111A Serial 67-0102 from the 428th TFS refueling
from a KC-135 tanker. Also shown is an F-4E (67-368) of the 58th
TFS/8th TFW at Ubon RTAFB (ED) (TDY from Kunsan AB, South Korea)
and two F-4Es from the 336th TFW also from Ubon (SJ) (TDY from
Seymour-Johnson AFB, North Carolina)

On 30 July 1973 the TDY of the 474th TFW ended. The wing was
replaced at Takhli by the 347th Tactical Fighter
Wing which was transferred from Mountain Home AFB, Idaho,
retaining two squadrons of F-111As of the 474th. These were:

For a brief two-week period the 347th flew combat operations
into Cambodia until 15
August, when the last wartime mission of the Vietnam Era was flown
into Cambodia for final
mission of Constant Guard. After the cease-fire,
the wing was maintained in a combat-ready status for possible
contingency actions.

Final USAF withdrawal from
Takhli

During January 1974 the Secretary of Defense announced a
realignment of Thailand resources, with the final pullout of air
resources by the end of 1976. In June 1974, Four F-111s from the 347 TFW flew
from Takhli to Osan
Air BaseSouth
Korea and conducted live weapons demonstrations for Republic of
Korea and US officials at Nightmare Range.

On 31 July 1974 phase down of operations at Takhli Royal Thai
Air Force Base was completed ahead of schedule, and the base was
officially returned to the Thai Government on 12 September. All
remaining US personnel departed on 14 September.

Post-Vietnam
Deployments by USAF to Takhli

From 13 - 17 December 1982 Commando West V was
held. This marked the first visit of a PACAF tactical unit to
Thailand since the early 1970s. The 90th Tactical Fighter
Squadron from Elmendorf AFBAlaska deployed six F-4Es to
Takhli, flying a total of 55 sorties with the Royal Thai Air
Force.

Also on 25 November 1983 six F-4Es from the 3d Tactical
Fighter Wing's 3TFS deployed to Takhli for dissimilar air
combat tactics training with the Royal Thai Air Force. The group
returned to Clark
Air Base on 5 December.